Was anyone else as supremely disappointed in the finale as I was? I know a lot of people stopped watching it altogether in the last couple years, but I hung in there, hoping to see an upturn. I feel pretty cheated after this great big finale that was supposed to clear everything up.

First of all, the entire show was just REALLY boring excuse to re-iterate the main plots from over the years. That would be ok, because after a few thousand twists,most people stopped trying to understand the plots about 4 years ago.;) But what ticked me off is how they ignored the dozens of smaller twists that happened over the years. Instead of trying to make sense of the contradictory occurences that he kept throwing out to keep us "on the edge of our seat" Chris Carter simply ignored them in the finale, concentrating only on one version of events.

Secondly, after the terribly boring first 1 1/2 hours, we get to see a big, explosive ending which basically consisted of two helicopter gunships blowing up the side of a mountain for no apparent reason, and then leaving.... Um... Can anyone tell me why the helicopters came there if they just let Mulder and Scully drive slowly away in their SUV?

I know they wanted to leave the show open-ended because they expect to have several movies after this, but if they can't give us any sort of coherent or entertaining story with 2 hours of TV time, how do they expect to do it with a movie?

SWAFMAN

05-20-2002, 01:34 PM

I was disappointed. The only good thing I can say is it was the best episode this season, but that is not saying much at all.

This was the first spark of acting enthusiasm I've seen out of G.Anderson in a long time. She'd really seemed to be "phoning it in" all season long.

Duchovny seemed sorta hot & cold, like in one scene he'd be really trying hard to do a 100% job of delivering a great performance, but in a few scenes he seemed to not care what he was doing. My guess is that he was frustrated over the wasted opportunity to deliver a finale the loyal viewers rightfully deserved. But I may be projecting way too much of my personal feelings into what i thought I saw from DD.

So, did they truly answer all the unanswered questions, tie up all the loose ends?

1. Mulder's sister is dead.
2. There's a shadow government in alliance with the aliens.
3. The invasion date is 12/20/2012 (I think that was the date)
4. The aliens don't like magnatite.
5. Smoking man was Mulder's dad, and was hiding in a pueblo.
6. Pickens/Kersh isn't such a jerk, after all. (talk about throwing someone a bone!)
7. The shadow gub'ment is going to hide in the base in the southwest US.

wow! I can sleep nights now! I don't know what I was hoping for in the last episode. Maybe Mulder & Scully fly away in their own spaceship with their 'love child', or something? But I was underwhelmed.

JEDIpartner

05-20-2002, 01:45 PM

I enjoyed the last episode. It was treat with dignity and not made overly ridiculous. Carter gave us what we wanted. We got to see Cancer Man get fried at the end of the episode and Knowle plough himself into the side of the cliff.

I'm glad the last scene was a quiet one. The series ended as quietly as it appeared. Well done.

stillakid

05-20-2002, 02:18 PM

Yeah, I couldn't figure out why they let the two, THE ONLY TWO, vehicles in the area drive away. Weird. It was nice seeing them connect the dots for us the way they did, but like the "judges," it made little sense in terms of what the trial was about. Kind of a letdown, but they clearly left that door wide open for the movie about the invasion.

Mandalorian Candidat

05-20-2002, 05:02 PM

It was about what I expected so I really wasn't let down any more than the last two years of the show. However, the whole thing with Kirsch helping them to get Mulder out was pure, unadulterated BS. The whole show he's been anti-Mulder and now he's helping him escape? And how the heck did they get in and out without getting caught? One other thing, if the shadow government is now alien infested, then why are they hiding out from the invasion?

Yeah, like a lemming I'll most likely see X2, but I hope they improve on the series and it's not just a chase movie with the goverment after the Mulder and Scully.

BTW swaffy, Smoking Man is NOT Mulder's dad. He only had an affair with his mom, so Agent Spender is Mulder's half-brother.

THE Slayer

05-20-2002, 07:48 PM

So mulder finally found his truth he had been searching for: God?
is that what the end was supposed to mean? Fondling her cross and saying the believe in the same thing now. That's nice and all but what about, you know, the aliens..

It was.. Ok. I didn't expect much anyways.

JediTricks

05-20-2002, 09:39 PM

I totally found this ep to be a dud, a fizzling-out of a once-interesting series. Yes, much was spelled out, but if you have watched for 9 years like some folks, this ep really didn't tell you anything new beyond the 12/22/2012 invasion date. I didn't feel betrayed exactly, but I didn't feel like this was the appropriate note to end the show on - it should have been something bigger.

Sith Vicious

05-20-2002, 10:55 PM

My expectations were pretty low going in, so I can't really say I was dissapointed. I pretty much knew they weren't going to wrap anything up conclusively with the movies on deck, but I was hoping for at least a few juicy revelations. At least they tried to weave the mythology into something halfway coherent, even if they had to throw some stuff out. I agree that the scene with the helicopters was ridiculous. They should've just left it at the super soldier. Although, they never really revealed how they knew where Mulder was going.

wedgeA

05-21-2002, 04:27 AM

I think that I am sitting on the fence on this one.

What did not work:

1) The trial- why? I mean, everyone who watched faithfully over the past 9 years with moderate intelligence would have a pretty good handle on what was going on. Also, one of the reasons the show was great was what nothing was totally spelled, and it treated the audience with respect to have the smarts to figure it out. For the final episode 75% of it is spent laying it out?

2) Let's cram everyone into the episode no matter how useless their appearance is!

3) Too much Mulder: Yeah, I know that this was his big return, but the rest of the cast should have had more screen time.

What worked:

1) The overall fatalistic tone of the episode, it always seemed fitting for the series to end this way, overall a downer with a small glimmer of hope.

2) I like that the characters fate were left hanging in the balance. I think the uncertainly has much more of a dramatic punch than a resolution either positive or negative, and lends more of an impact to their sacrifices. C'mon the shot of Skinner walking into the office- a chilling sight.

A couple of observations:

1) Kersh- many seemed stunned by his actions, but it seemed that they had alluded him being an ally from the season premere.

2) I never understood why so many fans abandoned the show when Duchovny stopped being a regular. Season seven was the worst season EVER, a total pile. I thought season eight with the intro of Doggett and Reyes was one of the best ever. It gave a creative boost to the show, and the season finale ranks among the series' best efforts.

Season nine was not as good, but still better than season seven. I thought this season's mistake was to maintain Mulder's "presence" in the show, and not giving Doggett and Reyes a chance to stand in the spotlight.

As for the Q's regarding the helicopters, I thought the episode implied that the agents got away without being witnessed, before the choppers got there.

icatch9

05-21-2002, 10:40 AM

I am not an X Phile or whatever they are known as. I think the show in general is good, and has a wounderful fan base. So, as a casual watcher I think I have an outside view or the final epidsode. First of all it was a chalk board episode. Just like Seinfeld. Basically a dream back episode to tell everyone how it was. The true fans knew it all, but what about the rest of America. I imagin that when they explained the mythology thigns all the people in America just went "oh yea" at the same time.

It is open ended for the movies. After all that is what they've wanted for the longest time. I'm surprised it's taken so long for a sequal. I don't think DD care a wholehell of a lot about the fans. If he did he wouldn't have left the show. So, he's sort of in it for the $$$. It his job so who cares. They have plenty of plot lines for movies. I hope they keep with the mythology, but they could just do stand alone movies. So, who knows. To me it's a great franchise, but may loose it's fire now that the TV show is done.

pthfnder89

05-21-2002, 03:36 PM

Originally posted by Mandalorian Candidat
BTW swaffy, Smoking Man is NOT Mulder's dad. He only had an affair with his mom, so Agent Spender is Mulder's half-brother.

Mandalorian Candidat - Smoking Man IS Mulders biological father. He had an affair with Mulders mother and Mulder was their child.

Agent Spender had a different mother (who was featured in ealrier seasons) and that is why Mulder and Spender are half-brothers. The Smoking Man is father to both of them but they each had different mothers.

wedgeA

05-21-2002, 04:13 PM

icatch9,

I agree with your comments that the finale was meant to tie things up for "the rest of America", but that is exactly my complaint. The final episode should cater to the fans, not the casual viewer. I 've always measured the final episode of a series on the basis of it being done to satisfy the hard core fans, a thank you of sorts for years of viewership. If this is the last episode, why should it be more accessible? Attracting more viewers is not an issue anymore.

I also agree with comments regarding Duchovny, he showed nothing but contempt for the show in the past few years, but now that his movie career failed, he is estatic to return to the fold. What's worse is that many fans indulged in this, turning their backs on the show without him and upon his return, they were more than happy to wipe his ***$ after letting him sit on the golden throne!

Personally, given the events in the finale, I can't imagine how they could do a stand alone movie. Yet another slap in the face...

Mandalorian Candidat

05-21-2002, 06:36 PM

Originally posted by pthfnder89

Mandalorian Candidat - Smoking Man IS Mulders biological father. He had an affair with Mulders mother and Mulder was their child.

Agent Spender had a different mother (who was featured in ealrier seasons) and that is why Mulder and Spender are half-brothers. The Smoking Man is father to both of them but they each had different mothers.

On the contrary my good pthfnder, they share the same mother, the dads are different. By that logic Mulder's sister is only a half-sister, but she is Mulder's full sister. Smoking man's other wife is NOT Spender's mom, Mulder's mom is.

SWAFMAN

05-21-2002, 06:53 PM

Mandalorian Candidate, so you're saying that Smoking Man has no biological connection to Mulder? That Mulder's real dad is the one we heard about all along, who died a good while before the series finale? And Smoking Man got Mulder's mother pregnant, and she delivered that baby, who grew up to be Agent Spender? Was this pregnancy to have happened while Mulder's real dad was still alive? If so, how was this illicit pregnancy reconciled between Mulder's parents?

JEDIpartner

05-22-2002, 09:39 AM

Nooo... Jeffery Spender is the son of C.G.B. Spender (Cancer Man/Cigarette Smoking Man) and Cassandra Spender (the woman in the wheelchair from a few seasons back. Mulder's mom... not Cassandra Spender, had an affair with C.G.B. Spender (God knows why- ick) and the resulting offspring was Fox Mulder.

pthfnder89

05-22-2002, 11:20 AM

Originally posted by JEDIpartnr
Nooo... Jeffery Spender is the son of C.G.B. Spender (Cancer Man/Cigarette Smoking Man) and Cassandra Spender (the woman in the wheelchair from a few seasons back. Mulder's mom... not Cassandra Spender, had an affair with C.G.B. Spender (God knows why- ick) and the resulting offspring was Fox Mulder.

Thank you JEDIpartnr - I couldn't for the life of me remember Cassandra Spenders name in my previous post, and I was too lazy to go search for it.:)

Honestly I didn't realize that CGB Spender was definitely established as Mulders father until the episode a few weeks back when Jeffery Spender returned. Did they establish that before? I pretty much stopped trying to figure out what was real and what wasn't about 3 seasons ago. They just started getting too ridiculous and drawn out:rolleyes:

Mandalorian Candidat - Do you understand the connection now? Mulder is Spenders half-brother through the same father (CGB Spender/Cigarette Smoking Man) but had different mothers.

As for Mulders sister, I don't know if it was established for certain whether or not she was also CGB Spenders child, or if she was sired by Mulders non-biological father.(His moms husband) If she wasn't another child from CGB Spenders affair with Mrs. Mulder, then that might explain why she was taken and not Fox; CGB would rather send her if he didn't have any biological connection to her.

Personally I think making Smoking Man Mulders true father was ridiculous. Like JEDIpartnr said "ick". Why would Mulders mother have an affair with him?

Mandalorian Candidat

05-22-2002, 11:44 AM

Originally posted by SWAFMAN
Mandalorian Candidate, so you're saying that Smoking Man has no biological connection to Mulder? That Mulder's real dad is the one we heard about all along, who died a good while before the series finale? And Smoking Man got Mulder's mother pregnant, and she delivered that baby, who grew up to be Agent Spender? Was this pregnancy to have happened while Mulder's real dad was still alive? If so, how was this illicit pregnancy reconciled between Mulder's parents?

Who the heck knows? Those people were sick anyways, giving up a daughter to aliens. I'll admit I didn't see this episode where Agent Spender comes back and talks about Smoking Man being his dad, but from previous episodes it was established that Mulder and Spender shared the same mother, not father.

JEDIpartner

05-22-2002, 01:34 PM

Having an affair with Smoking Man would be like having an affair with Emperor Palpatine. :eek:

My partner got to meet the Actor who play Cassandra Spender when she stayed at a hotel where he was working as the concierge. Pretty cool as most of the people there had no clue who she was!!

Mandalorian Candidat

05-22-2002, 03:50 PM

Originally posted by JEDIpartnr
Having an affair with Smoking Man would be like having an affair with Emperor Palpatine. :eek:

My partner got to meet the Actor who play Cassandra Spender when she stayed at a hotel where he was working as the concierge. Pretty cool as most of the people there had no clue who she was!!

I'm surprised no one knew who she was! Dang, she's been in a lot of stuff. She was Lambert in Alien, the last human standing in Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and was even in The Birds. I wouldn't mind meeting her.

SWAFMAN

08-19-2002, 10:29 PM

(sorry, this was the closest pre-existing thread I could find to post this)